To Save an Innocent
by colette.brunel.3
Summary: Things like this shouldn't happen to girls like her. How could we ever get her back to the state of mind of our old Tohru, the happy girl who knew nothing about the bad in the world? A few months after the last book, Tohru is raped. How will they deal?
1. Chapter 1

Hello All! My name is Colette, and I have adopted this fanfic from DominoTyler.

This is my first fanfic, so I'm sorry if it's awful. I have complete rights to the story now, and so any plot changes have been approved by DominoTyler herself. Well, these first eight chapters are all DominoTyler, but the rest is me. I hope you like it :)

Chapter 1

Tohru skipped along lightly as she made her way home from work. Today was her birthday, and Shigure said there was a special surprise waiting for her when she returned.

She was so excited that the footsteps behind her didn't even register.

She had almost made it to the spot where Kyo was to pick her up when something hard slammed into her ribs, knocking her into an alley. Tohru flew into the brick wall, feeling something crack in her arm. There was a sharp pain in her skull. Her vision went dark and her head felt hot inside and out.

"Hey, look at this cutie," a voice crooned from the black. She hated to judge, but from the looks of him, he was what Kyo would call "scum." His hair was shaggy and his beard was untamed. Even from the ground she could smell whiskey on his breath.

She yelped as he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to her feet, or rather, the air above where her feet should have been. A blade glimmered in the small light from the bar beside them as it swept forward and sloppily cut through his fistful of hair. Tohru began to fall, but he crushed her to the wall, dropping the handful of shimmering brown locks to the ground.

"Please," Tohru whined. "Please, let me go."

He laughed as if she was the most hysterical person in the world. "I don't think so, sweetheart," he slurred. "Because, believe it or not, a girl today made me realize that all girls are bitches that deserve to be used and killed."

Tohru's eyes widened and her breathing picked up. She saw the man smirk and felt his calloused fingers slide underneath her shirt and creep up her back. She choked when her shirt was torn off, buttons scattering and falling amongst the broken bottles and garbage littering the pavement

In the distance she heard a cheer and loud music. She began to scream.

"Kyo!" She cried. "Where are you?"

The time was passing so slowly for her, though in reality it was going so fast. She felt blood rolling down her spine. She sobbed as he ripped off her jeans and had his way with her, all the while leaving deep cuts on her skin with the blade he had procured from somewhere in his pockets.

He pushed himself off of her and picked up a bottle, taking a deep swig and stumbling backwards. He raised the now almost empty bottle and made to throw it at her when a hand grabbed his wrist and wrenched it around his back. The assailant kneed the drunk man in the spine and watched him crumple and cough blood onto the filthy blacktop.

The familiar doctor had an angry gleam in his eye as he pulled the man back up by his skin and punched him in the jaw, sending his nearly naked form sprawling across the ground. He groaned but stayed where he was.

Hatori Sohma stood up and dropped his tense fighting stance. He walked with a fast pace towards Tohru, who could feel herself quickly slipping away. She found herself not able to remember who she was or what was happening.

By the time she was wrapped in a shirt that smelled like someone she knew and was placed gently in a car, tightly wrapped in blankets, the only thing she could remember was that something horrible had happened.

...

Hatori drove straight passed Shigure's house, which was filled with Sohma's awaiting Tohru's arrival, so they could surprise her with a huge birthday party. He drove, trying not to shake, afraid for the girl lying unconscious in the back of his car. He wanted to be sick.

He pulled out his phone and called the first person on his speed dial.

"Hatori! Where's our favorite person, and why aren't you with her?" the former dog said, laughing at his own peculiar humor. Hatori stayed silent, trying but failing to unlock his tongue so he could produce speech. "Hatori? What's wrong?"

"Call off the party," he said. He knew Shigure would know immediately that because his voice was actually shaking, he was beyond his normal serious demeanor. "I'm taking her to my house. Bring Ayame. And if you can, keep this from Yuki and Kyo. I don't want to have to deal with them."

Shigure didn't even answer. The phone conversation ended with a "click" just as Hatori pulled up at his house, which dwelled right on the outskirts of the former Sohma residence.

He replaced the keys to his pockets and pulled the small girl into his arms. There was more blood than was possible covering her stomach, face, arms, and legs. Everywhere possible. He winced as he awaited the transformation that never came. Once his hesitation was over he ran to the house, trying not to jostle the dying girl in his arms. How he wished he hadn't hesitated. If she died, all he would do is blame himself.

He laid her on his bed and pulled out his medical kit. He removed his shirt from her body and cleaned her wounds. Her eyes snapped open and she shrieked at the top of her lungs at the burn of alcohol and other sanitation methods as they assaulted germs and debris. She began to thrash violently, sobbing, slapping Hatori, blood spraying over his shirt and bed.

Shigure and Ayame entered. They stared dumbly, mouths agape, until Hatori yelled out for them. "Hold down her arms!" He called. "She'll die if I don't stop this bleeding!"

A spark ignited and the two men bolted towards the bed. Ayame took her ankles and pinned them to the ground, while Shigure plastered her arms to her sides. She continued to scream and sob and writhe as Hatori stitched and bandaged her. When he had finished, Tohru passed out on the bed, and the three men stared, dumbfounded, as they wondered why such a thing had happened to the poor, innocent girl they cared for so deeply. (Written by DominoTyler)

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hatori took Ayame and Shigure from the room and poured each of them a mug of coffee.

Shigure took the pot from him and finished pouring after watching the doctor struggle with his shaking hands.

"What in the name of everything holy happened to Tohru?" Shigure asked, setting down a mug in front of each frame seated at the table. They stared into the steaming brown liquid. Hatori was the first to raise the mug to his lips. When he drank and set down his cup, he began to explain.

"I found her in the alley close by where she was supposed to be picked up," he said, tapping the rim of his mug. "Come to think of it, I should probably call the police on the sick bastard who raped her. I left him lying in the alley. He'd probably paralyzed, but the guy deserves it."

Hatori's two best friends were stunned to silence at the viscious tone of voice Hatori had taken towards the man. Shigure shook his head. "Will Tohru be alright?"

Hatori looked from his coffee to his friend and stared a moment before comprehending his question. "Yes," he said finally. "At least, I hope she will be. I'll find that kid and kill him if she dies."

Shigure made a face and patted Hatori's hand. "I think you need some sleep. I'll stay the night to make sure everything goes alright."

Hatori nodded and sighed heavily. "Thank you. And if you don't mind, I'd like to keep her here for a couple of weeks, rather than have her coming back and forth for daily check ups."

Shigure nodded. "I understand. First thing tomorrow morning I'll pick up her belongings, birthday presents, and boyfriend and I'll be right over."

Hatori sighed and stood up. "Break it to him slowly. I'm not paying to fix any doors."

Shigure laughed. The sound was strange in such a dark atmosphere. He seemed to realize and stopped immediately.

"I'm going to shower," Hatori deadpanned. "If she wakes up, give her some of this for her pain and a glass of water. It should knock her out."

He set a bottle of pills on the counter and left the two to talk while he wandered to his bathroom. He took off his clothes and discarded them immediately into the wastebasket, not planning to bother with the horrid bloodstains cloaking the material. He started the shower and watched the blood slide from his skin and down the drain. He toweled himself off.

He then realized Tohru was sleeping in that room which contained his clothing. He tied the towel around his waist and entered the room. Tohru, as expected, had not woken up, and was curled in a tight ball on his bed, staining the sheets. He changed into sweatpants and sat in a chair, staring at the small girl.

Hatori knew it was his fault. He had been late to pick her up. Kyo should have done it. There was no reason besides Kyo needing to finish the birthday present for his girlfriend. Hatori would rather have finished the art project than feel all of this incredible guilt at being the reason that the sweetest, most innocent girl on the entire planet had lost that innocence and was on the borderline between life and death. He gave in to something that he hadn't in what seemed years. He placed his head in his hands and cried. He cried so hard that he shook.

Thinking only made it worse. He could only think of the situation as being his own fault. If only he could turn off his mind, never think again-

Hatori stared at the hand resting on his shoulder.

He followed up the bandaged arm and looked into the face of the girl he was crying over. She stared at him for the longest time, her eyes filled with what was presumably the memories of the night. She forced a wavering smile before collapsing into Hatori's arms.

He caught her and gently returned her to the bed. He pulled a blanket around her body and tucked a few strands of soft brown hair behind her ear.

Then he left to spend the night on the couch beneath an afghan crocheted for him by the girl in the room beside his current position.

...

Kyo paced back and forth, back and forth in his bedroom. Where were they? He laced his fingers through his orange hair and gripped tightly. He let out a growl of frustration and threw a glance at Tohru's birthday present, wrapped the best he could make it and placed gently on his bedside table.

He could sense something was wrong. Being with Tohru for so long, loving Tohru for so long, he knew that something had happened. He didn't need the party to be called off and Shigure and Ayame called to Hatori's-the man who was supposed to be escorting his girlfriend home-to know that something horrible had come to his love.

He couldn't stand the suspense. He needed to know what was wrong. With a last thought tacked on, Kyo grabbed Tohru's gift and snuck from the house. Yuki hadn't even noticed him leave.

Kyo took this for good luck and ran the few short miles to the depressed doctor's abode. He didn't knock. He just pushed the door open and walked inside. He thought better of calling for someone-what if Tohru was awake and he woke her?-and he looked around the kitchen for some clue as to what may have happened.

He found his clues. The coffee mugs on the table seemed harmless until Kyo noticed the handles mucked with a dark red substance that resembled blood and induced Kyo to feelings of retching. The sink was quite the sight from any horror film, being filled to the brim in gory clothing and the garbage can containing gauze and cloths soaked in blood and wreaking of alcohol and whatever else had been used to sanitize whoever had apparently lost every drop of blood in their body to decorate Hatori's kitchen.

On the counter was a small bottle of little white pills and an open medical kit.

Kyo had had enough. He couldn't look at this anymore. He left the kitchen and walked into the living room. Hatori was sleeping on the couch, barely covered by a blanket he recalled Tohru making to repay him, even if it was a Christmas gift. An idiot slept in each of the guest bedrooms, snoring louder than anyone. In the room next to the living room was Hatori's room. Sleeping in his bed was the love of Kyo's life.

It hurt to see her like that. His eyes stung. Her gift dropped from his fingertips. He walked slowly towards the bed, as if in a trance, taking in the blood-soaked sheets, her head wrapped in bandages with chunks of brown hair caked in blood falling from the white-red folds. She was dressed in a tank top and a pair of boxers obviously belonging to Hatori. Blood had seeped through the bandages and coated his clothing. He dropped to his knees beside her head and let tears stream from his eyes. He sobbed harder, burying his face in her hand, the only thing untouched by whoever had done this to her.

He'd taken away her fist time, something Kyo had so eagerly looked forward to sharing with her once they had been married. He took away Kyo's own peace of mind. How could he ever let her walk alone again without the horrible fear that she might be harmed?

His breaths came in painful gasps as he stroked the hair that peeked out from her bandages and wondered how bad it really was. Sometimes the condition wasn't as bad as it appeared on the outside. He hoped that was true. This looked pretty bad.

He swore to himself then and there that he would find the guy who did this and do something so unspeakable to him that it hurt Kyo's own mind just thinking of it. (Written by DominoTyler)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hatori was first to wake up the next morning. He thought over the previous nights events, and felt too sick to check on Tohru. He needed a cigarette.

He pulled on his steel toed boots and wandered outside in his sweats. The early morning air was cool and damp. He could feel rain coming. He fumbled with his match for several minutes, his hands shaking too much to light the cigarette hanging from his lips. He hissed as he singed his fingers and the match tumbled to the moist ground. A helpful hand from beside him reached out and lit it for him. Hatori took the cigarette between his fingers and closed his eyes as he exhaled.

"Thank you," he said to Shigure.

The former dog nodded and lit one of his own, then shook out the flame and dropped the match to the ground.

"Have you been in to check on Tohru?" Shigure asked him as they stared out across Hatori's yard, which peeked into a large clump of trees. A small stream trailed through, cutting off his yard from the forest.

Hatori shook his head, taking several drags. "I'm preparing myself."

"She's in good hands," said Shigure, in one of his odd, sober moods brought on by serious events.

Hatori turned his gaze to his best friend, eyebrow quirked; he was still peering out at the yard. Shigure laughed when he noticed Hatori's expression.

"Not you!" He exclaimed, flicking ash on Hatori's porch. "A worried little red headed boy snuck in last night."

Hatori sighed and dropped his much needed cigarette to the cement and ground it to nearly paste with the toe of his boot. "I'd better check her condition and explain what happened."

Shigure nodded and leaned forward against the railing of the porch. He took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Probably a good idea. Want me to come with you? He might go crazy when he finds out what happened."

Hatori shook his head. "I think I should tell him."

He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared to tell Kyo Sohma about why this had happened. Should he leave out that he had been late? Or would Kyo find out and be angrier with him? And should he tell him that she'd been raped? Or should he just tell him that she'd been beaten and abandoned?

By the time he made it there, he had decided on the truth. Hatori Sohma was not a liar, and didn't plan on starting now.

He didn't have to say anything right away. Kyo was on the floor, one hand reached up and wrapped around the hand of poor Tohru, one of the only parts of her untouched by that man in the alley, his other covering his eyes. His head was rested on his discarded shirt-it was nearing ninety degrees and was only seven.

Hatori crept forward and removed Kyo's hand. At the slight movement, Tohru's eyes snapped open wide, still clouded with sleep. Her mouth formed an "o" and the sound emitted was worse than nails on a chalk board. She screamed and thrashed and shrieked, yelling for them to get away from her. She began crying.

"What did you do to her?" Kyo shouted over Tohru's howling. His hands were pressed over his ears as he glared ferociously at Hatori.

"I didn't do anything!" Hatori yelled back fiercely, losing his cool. "Help me calm her-she'll pop her stitches!"

"Stitches?" Kyo yelled.

Hatori didn't answer. He grabbed Tohru's legs and held them down. Kyo grabbed her wrists and held them to her sides. Tohru stared up at him and screamed in his face. Then she stopped, recognition taking place of confusion and delirium, and she sniffed several times before tears flooded her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"Kyo!" She sobbed, squirming out of Kyo's grasp and throwing her arms around his neck. Her voice was so strained and pressed by tears that her words were barely audible to Hatori. "I was so scared," she squeezed out.

"I know," Kyo whispered, holding her tightly, yet gently, frantically stroking her hair. She clawed his back, but he barely noticed. He found himself crying for the second time. The tears were a mixture of emotions-happiness that she was alive and remembered him; sadness to see her so distraught; tears for Tohru's pain; tears for her lost innocence; and tears for everything he'd thought of the night before. He held her until she felt limp in his arms, such violent tears having tired her out.

Kyo laid her back on the bed, but she refused to let go of his hand. While she had nearly fainted from the excursion of her tears, the grip on his fingers was like iron.

Hatori walked towards her slowly, so as not to scare her, but it seemed to ignite more fear. She screamed and pushed herself into the headboard.

Kyo knelt down beside her and whispered soothingly into her ear until Tohru was able to allow Hatori near her without pressing herself away from him.

He checked all of her visible bandages. Kyo pulled his shirt back on and sat in a chair next to the bed, holding her hands. She cried and cried as he cleansed her cuts.

"Tohru," said Hatori, sorting through his medical kit. "I'm going to need you to undress for me."

Hatori went to cut away her bandages when he realized she hadn't undressed. She was giving him a strange look.

"Tohru, take off your shirt," he said firmly.

She paused before shaking her head.

Kyo sighed, knowing this was important. "Tohru, you need to do what he says."

She whimpered and a few tears slid down her streaked face. "No," she whispered.

"Tohru," Kyo said pathetically and hating himself for it. "I have a birthday present for you, and I'll give it to you when you're done with Hatori. But you need to take these clothes off first."

Her breathing was shaky and she was crying as she removed the shirt and boxers. She sat naked in the presence of two men that she was terrified of. She loved the both of them, but feared they might hurt her.

Kyo sat in the chair, politely averting his gaze, as Hatori cut away the bandages and began to clean around the stitches and smaller cuts. He cleansed the slices on her legs as well, replaced the bandages, and moved to find something for her to wear. Kyo shoved his shirt at her, and Hatori nodded.

"Shigure was going to pick up your things this morning," Hatori said. "He should be back soon, and then you can dress in what you'd like."

"Why does Tohru need her things?" Kyo asked, looming between the two occupants of the room.

"She'll be staying with me for a few more days," Hatori said, cleaning his tools. "You're welcome to come and go as you please."

Kyo nodded and sat back down next to Tohru.

Hatori left, muttering something about breakfast.

Tohru sat staring blankly at the wall. Something was different about her. Kyo could tell that something within her had snapped, releasing knew thoughts and feelings and emotions.

"Tohru?" He said hesitantly. He moved to give her the package. She turned her eyes to him; nothing could ever make her rude. "Here's your present. I've been working on it for weeks. You know I'm not good with my fingers."

She nodded in replace of a smile. Kyo set it on her lap, butterflies fluttering about the lining of his stomach. He hoped with all of himself that she'd like it.

Slowly she began to unwrap the paper bag Kyo had wrapped it in when she jumped and hissed in pain, holding her finger to her face to examine the deep paper cut.

"Oh, gods!" Kyo exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Hold on. I'll get a Band-Aide!"

He ran from the room, leaving Tohru to stare, mesmerized as the blood dribbled down her finger and across her palm. Strangely, she was glad to see it. She placed an uninjured fingertip into the blood pooling on her wrist and held that close to her chocolate brown eyes to examine it.

Kyo found her that way, staring intently at the sticky red liquid. "Here," he said. She jerked her eyes from the blood and quickly handed him her finger. He dabbed away the blood and set the moist gauze on the bedside table, then wrapped the bandage around her finger. He wiped the blood from her other finger and kissed the bandage. He raised his eyes to hers and smiled.

She looked back down at the gift and gently unwrapped it the rest of the way, secretly, in the very depths of her mind, hoping that she might accidentally cut herself again. The though made her cringe.

"Are you alright, Tohru?" Kyo asked.

She turned, surprised, to see him staring at her, his eyes boring into hers. She inhaled deeply and tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace than anything. "Of course!" She quickly unwrapped the rest of the present and dangled the gift from her fingertips. She guessed what it was before he even had the chance to explain, and her eyes teared up. She actually felt happy, for the first time in what seemed forever, but what had really been only a days.

Kyo could do that to her.

...

The small woven bracelet with carved figurines of the Chinese Zodiac dangled from Tohru's fingers as she turned it this way and that, admiring the perfect craftsmanship of each individual animal.

Kyo smiled at her, glad she seemed at least interested in his gift. His stomach felt relief from its stress when he found that this small little factor made this so much easier on him.

"It's a promise bracelet," Kyo said, taking the bracelet. "If you let me put this on you, it means that we're promised to be married when we're older.

The tears in Tohru's eyes brimmed over and a true smile graced her lips. "Oh, Kyo!" She exclaimed, though silently through her tears. She threw her unbroken arm around his neck and pulled him closer to her. He laughed, flooded with relief, and held her tightly but gently. He took her head gently in his hands and kissed her on the mouth. He pulled back and beamed at her.

"I love you," he whispered.

She leaned forward, resting her bandaged head against his chest. He felt hot tears spill down his bare chest, and he held her close.

"I love you, too," Tohru whispered as she leaned into him, feeling oh, so protected in his strong arms.

He was still beaming when she pulled back, curious as he took her left wrist and tied the bracelet around her thin arm. She smiled at it. He kissed it.

"Now it's official," said Kyo. "As soon as we both turn eighteen, we'll be married."

Tohru's heart brimmed with happiness and more tears fell. She sat cradled in Kyo's lap for a better part of the morning.

Finally, Shigure appeared with her belongings. Kyo left the room while she changed. It felt nice to slide into an old pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt. She sighed, not quite comfortable for her broken arm and the slices and stitches covering her body, but she realized she had been selfish, wallowing in her misery. She should be grateful to be alive!

But the more she thought about this, the more saddened she became. The less she cared about how she should feel, how she needed to forgive. That man had taken a lot from her, and though she declared to herself that she'd forgiven him, somewhere deep inside she still held the bitterest of feelings for the man, and she knew that, despite her declarations, she hated him with all she had.

Tohru left Hatori's bedroom and tried to make her way to the kitchen, but she stumbled. A pair of strong arms grabbed her by the shoulders as she fell and pulled her to their chest as she attempted to steady herself. Then, she took in a gust of air, and shrieked.

"Tohru, Tohru, it's only me! It's Ayame! You know me!"

Tohru began shaking as her tears came. She wanted him to let go. She didn't want men touching her, unless they were Kyo, and, strangely, Hatori. But she knew that if he let go, she'd fall and only hurt herself more.

"Let me go!" She cried.

Ayame tried hard to reason with the girl. "If I let go, you'll only fall and injure yourself in your delicate condition."

Tohru's eyes widened as she paused in struggling against him. Did he mean...or...no, he couldn't have. Could he? This was just another one of the phrases he had stored in his large vocabulary. He just had the meanings mixed up, that was all.

Tohru began taking in more air in short pants, building up for another scream, when Kyo burst into the hallway, eyes wild.

"Tohru, what's wrong?" He shouted. He came forward and took her into his arms. He was wearing one of Hatori's shirts now, and it was that she stained with her tears. He shook his head. Ayame only shrugged.

Kyo gently led Tohru into the kitchen and helped her into a seat. Hatori had prepared quite a large meal, and Kyo prepared Tohru a large plate in hopes that maybe she could begin to regain her strength. It fared quite ill like as they all ate and Tohru stared at her plate, half-heartedly picking at her food, pushing it around her plate. By the time Kyo was finished, she had taken two bites.

He decided to stay at the table until she finished, but when she spotted his empty plate, she launched to her feet. The movement made her eyes go black, but she ignored it. She brought her plate to the garbage and made to scrape everything into the bag, when a hand grasped her wrist.

"Tohru, love, you gotta eat something."

Tohru looked up into Kyo's eyes. "I'm not hungry."

"Please? For me?" He begged.

Tohru allowed everything to slide into the trash can, and she moved to put the plate into the sink. Kyo stared, stunned that she'd done something so bold. It was so...not Tohru.

"I'm sorry," she said, squeezing his hand.

Kyo hadn't even noticed she'd made it back by him. He stared at her hand laced with his for a moment, the bracelet he'd worked so hard on tied tightly around her wrist.

Kyo forgot why he'd been so shocked and smiled, bringing up their hands to caress her cheek.

She closed her eyes and leaned forward to hug him. She seemed to do that a lot. She'd told him that the fact that he could, in this situation, really meant that he should. She took every opportunity to wrap her slender arms about his waist, and he cherished each moment he held her to his chest, willing her to never leave him.

Tohru squirmed and he let her loose. She turned, still holding Kyo's hand. "I'm very sorry, Hatori!" She exclaimed. "I didn't realize how rude I was being. Your food was very delicious, but I'm just not hungry at all-"

Hatori offered up a very rare smile. "I understand completely. Why don't you take a walk? I'm sure the fresh air will really do you some good."

Tohru nodded and tugged on Kyo's hand. He followed after her submissively.

When they had left, Hatori turned to Ayame. "How do you know?" He demanded after losing an intense staring contest with the snake.

Ayame laughed, but it was humorless. "It's written all over her. I know doctor's can't spot it right away, but anyone else can. It's obvious and you'll be able to tell soon enough."

Shigure looked up from a book he'd been reading intently. "What are you two on about? How rude, leaving your best friend, the maker of your gang, out of the loop!"

Hatori ignored him, turning to shove some dishes into the sink.

Shigure jumped to his feet and automatically began pestering him for answers. When Hatori refused to budge, he turned to Ayame, who immediately relayed him the details of their quite unpleasant thoughts about their little flowers condition. The two babbled on about it, irritating Hatori to no end, until he had to leave them.

He stepped out onto the porch and lit another cigarette. His hands were still shaking quite fiercely. He was just so shook up about everything that had happened, that he didn't know if he'd ever be able to control his muscles properly again. (Written by DominoTyler)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kyo was coming more worried by the minute. He held on to her arm tightly as they walked towards the park in the middle of town.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back, Tohru?" He said anxiously. "You look a little tipsy."

"I'm alright," she mumbled as they kept walking. "I know how much you like the park."

Kyo stopped walking, stopping Tohru with him. "If we're not going for you then we're definitely not going for me, Tohru."

She shook her head. "No..." she said quietly, her words slurring together. She looked so tired and frail. Kyo had to catch her as she fell away from him, threatening to crack her skull on the pavement. "I want to go..."

"I knew you weren't well enough to go," Kyo said. "Come on, we're going back."

He started to walk away before realizing that he was completely dragging her. He turned and held her close, tilting her head back so he could see her face. Her eyes were drooping.

"I can't feel my legs, Kyo," she whispered pitifully.

Kyo's heart clenched. Without another moment's hesitation Kyo lifted her bridal style.

It wasn't like in movies and stories where people just didn't seem to notice a boy walking through town with an unconscious-or nearly there-girl in his arms, or where there just seemed to be no one at all around. Several kind souls approached to make sure everything was alright. One couple even refused to allow him to leave their sight unless he explained exactly what had happened.

"She was molested two days ago, get out of my way!" He snarled, pushing past and speed-walking down the street, trying desperately not to jostle the poor girl in his arms.

"How rude," said the girl. "We were only trying to help."

"He obviously loves her, sweetheart," the male replied kindly. "He wants to get her to safety and we were making it difficult."

Kyo kept on. A car pulled up beside him and a kind, worried looking American man with a stubbly beard and a flannel shirt leaned out the window.

"Need a ride, buddy?" he called.

Kyo looked up the road. They still had half a mile. He hadn't even realized they'd walked so far.

Kyo nodded and the man stopped his truck. Kyo gently got inside and sat with Tohru in the middle seat, wrapped in his arm.

"Thanks, sir," Kyo said, eyes on Tohru. He gently swiped some hair from her drooping eyes. "I don't know if she would have made it."

The man glanced worriedly down at Tohru. "She gonna be alright?"

"I hope so," Kyo said. He stared down at Tohru sadly. Just this man's presence made him feel like spilling his guts about the girl in his lap. "I haven't told her nearly as many times as I wanted to that I love her to pieces."

The man grinned. "Love like that between teenagers is rare. You take care of that."

Kyo eyed the man. "You don't look any older than twenty."

"I'm nineteen. Ben Long, pleased to meet you."

Kyo took the man's hand. "Kyo Sohma. This is my girlfriend, Tohru Honda. We're almost there, just take this next right."

The man nodded and put on his blinker.

"May I ask what happened?" Ben asked tentatively.

Kyo looked away from him. "I doubt you'd want to know."

"I'm curious." He shrugged. "You don't have to say if you don't want to."

"She was raped a few days ago," he said under his breath, hoping maybe the guy wouldn't hear.

He did and looked pretty shocked.

"Wow, I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm learning to deal with everything, I guess, but I don't know if Tohru will be able to. She was so innocent. She probably thought the guy who knocked her into the alleyway just wanted to invite her to a tea party."

The guy shook his head. "That's too bad. Is this your stop?"

Kyo looked out the window. "Yes. Thank you, Ben, very much. Tohru would thank you if she could."

Ben nodded. "No problem, I would have been a monster not to help you. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime, Kyo. I just moved in down the road."

Kyo got out and Ben helped him with Tohru. "This is the house of a relative of mine's, but while Tohru is like this she's staying here, so maybe. Maybe I'll invite you to dinner when Tohru's feeling better. She's an excellent cook."

Ben grinned. "I'd like that. Hope she get's better soon, kid. And good luck-I saw that promise bracelet."

Kyo found himself blushing as he watched the man drive away down the street, but didn't have time to think on it when Tohru made a pathetic little noise at the back of her throat. Kyo rushed her into the house and Hatori immediately began examining her.

"She's tired and hungry and the blood she lost was making her dizzy," he finally concluded. "A walk was a bad idea. I think she's going to need to stay in bed and rest the rest of the day."

Kyo nodded.

"There is a problem, however," Hatori said. "Akito has taken sick as well. I have to head to Shigure's, where she's been staying, and check on her. If it's as bad as I think it is I'll have to be there for a little while. I'll still come by night and morning for Tohru's bandages and to sleep, but I'll be there most of the day-you know how Akito is."

Kyo nodded, still looking at Tohru, who was in her pajamas and deeply asleep.

"Do you think you could stay here and watch over her while I'm gone? Ayame's leaving tonight, and you'll have the house to yourself. You'll have to give her medicine and feed her. Can you handle that?"

Kyo didn't like the way Hatori said that, as if he wasn't competent enough to take care of his girlfriend. "Of course I can," he snapped.

Hatori nodded, his stoic expression never flinching, even an inch. "Just making sure you were listening."

"Of course I was," Kyo insisted.

"Then I'll be going," Hatori said. "I'll bring your things tonight, and the remainder of Tohru's birthday gifts. Don't forget dinner."

Kyo glared until Hatori left, and he stared at the door until he heard a click and Hatori was gone.

Then he looked back down at Tohru and sighed. Reluctantly he left Tohru's side to start her supper.

Yuki and Machi stopped by to see Tohru. They brought along her gift, also. Machi gave her a charm bracelet with two charms-a letter "T" and Kyo also spotted that strange anime creature Yuki's girlfriend loved so much. Yuki's gift to her was a little charm shaped like a basket of fruit. He said he'd seen it and it had reminded him of her. He said he recalled her once mentioning the game children played. He also got her a book he'd heard was popular, and a new ribbon for her hair.

The whole time they were giving her these gifts, poor Tohru was asleep.

They stayed for dinner. As they were forcing awkward conversation and biting back any form of yelling while Tohru was asleep in the other room over bowls of stew, Kyo heard a tiny voice calling out his name.

Kyo stood so fast his chair cluttered to the floor. He rushed to the room she had taken as her own for the remainder of her time in Hatori's home and fluttered around her. "Yes, Tohru?" he said breathlessly.

"I'm thirsty," she mumbled hoarsely. He nodded.

"Yuki, can you get Tohru a glass of water?" he yelled.

Yuki came immediately. He figured it was serious. He couldn't remember the last time he heard the cat call him by his name. He couldn't remember any time he'd heard Kyo say his name, actually.

Kyo held up Tohru's limp head as she drank her water.

"Yuki's here?" Tohru mumbled.

Kyo nodded towards the door, where Yuki was standing with Machi.

Tohru smiled. "Hi, guys."

"They brought your birthday presents," Kyo said as the two waved at her.

"Birthday?" Tohru said, surprised. "Is today my birthday?"

"No," said Kyo, biting at his lip. "It was a couple days ago."

"Oh," she said, leaning back into Kyo's arm. "Thank you, Yuki. Machi."

The two smiled and nodded. "Of course, Tohru," Yuki said. "We just hope you get better very soon."

Tohru nodded. "Thank you very much."

"We're sorry we can't stay any longer, but Machi and I have plans with Kakeru and his girlfriend. He proposed to her the other day."

"Tell them I say congratulations," Tohru said, her voice very small.

Yuki and Machi nodded, saying their goodbyes, and they left.

"Are you up for eating?" Kyo said when they were gone.

Tohru shook her head "no."

Kyo sighed. "That's too bad. Because I think I'm going to have to make you eat."

She shook her head again, more vigorously.

"Tohru, it's been almost three days since you last ate. You're eating or I'm getting Hatori to inject food into your system."

He left the room to get her plate and came back to find her sleeping.

He sighed and set the tray of stew and rice balls, and strawberries from Yuki's garden, all Tohru's favorites, on the bedside table. She was eating it the moment she woke up, no excuses. He loved her too much to let her die. (Written by DominoTyler)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When Tohru woke up, Kyo was immediately at her side.

"You ready to eat?" he asked her anxiously.

Tohru blinked at him and made a whining squeak as she stretched. She sat up fast when the sensation that she needed to vomit overtook her. The fast movement made her head spin and her vision go black, and she fell back into her pillows. Her stomach settled and formed a loud growl.

The growl did not escape Kyo's sharp sense of hearing. "I heard that. Eat up, or my cooking will go to waste, and Yuki will feel bad that you didn't eat his strawberries."

He knew this would work. He already saw the guilt in her eyes and felt guilty himself for guilting her into eating it.

Her hands were shaking too badly to eat herself, so Kyo slowly fed her until she felt much stronger and was able to finish her strawberries by herself.

Kyo smiled as he watched her eating them, the happiest look in her eyes, as if she'd forgotten everything that had happened.

A thought occurred to him. He'd ask Hatori about it when he returned.

"Kyo, can I take a shower?" Tohru asked him.

Kyo looked at her tray. It was mostly empty. He decided to allow her to leave her bed in order to clean up, which he realized they should have had her done earlier. She was still covered in the filth of that vile man.

He helped Tohru out of bed and into the bathroom.

She seemed strong enough, though her knees were a bit shaky. She started the water, and Kyo nervously left, hoping she'd be alright in there.

Twenty minutes later, he was nervously pacing outside the door. Hoping she was alright.

"Tohru?" he called. No answer. "Tohru, are you okay?" Still no answer.

Without another thought, Kyo barged into the room. The shower was still running, but he couldn't even see her shadow from behind the curtain. All he could hear was water pelting against the inside of the tub, not skin or hair.

He didn't think. He was acting on pure instinct now, the need to find Tohru safe. He ripped the curtains open.

Tohru lay curled up in a ball at the bottom of the tub. He couldn't see anything but her hips and legs and arms and back. Her arms and legs successfully covered anything Tohru might not want him to see.

Her face was pressed into her hands, which were rested on a curved ledge along the side of the tub.

"Tohru!" He exclaimed. He was worried, he didn't know if she was unconscious, and he didn't want to violate her in any way, or make her feel uncomfortable. He finally decided her life was more important than anything else and he touched her shoulder, just making sure.

She gasped and spun around, arm out. She smacked him hard in the face and grabbed onto his arm, digging her nails deep into his flesh. He hissed in pain.

"Tohru!" he shouted worriedly, looking down into her teary-eyed face. "It's me! It's Kyo!"

Her eyes unglazed and she released him, her hands flying to her eyes as she sobbed harder. "I'm so sorry, Kyo, I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, now," he said as he rinsed the blood from the five little crescent shaped slices on his arm. "No need to apologise, it's alright. Just try and remember me next time."

He'd meant it to be a joke, but she'd taken it seriously.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

He cautiously touched her shoulder. She tensed and he pulled away.

She had left the drain plugged. The shower water had managed to fill the tub, but now the high pressure of the water was sending pelting streams of bath water into their faces. Kyo shut off the water.

"So, what's your problem?" Kyo mumbled.

Tohru looked at him questioningly.

"Why're you crying now?" he clarified.

She seemed a little surprised. "I'm not crying," she said, though her voice very much betrayed her words.

He shook his head. "Don't lie to me, Tohru, I can tell when you're lying and when you're telling the truth."

She began crying harder than ever. "I can't get him off of me!" She exclaimed. "Everywhere I feel like he's still touching me and it makes me feel sick and yucky and dirty and so wrong!"

Kyo was heartbroken. He frowned for several moments, watching her cry and wondering how he could possibly help.

Then he decided.

"Lie on your back, Tohru," he said.

Tohru looked at him curiously.

"Lie on your back," he said firmly.

Something in his tone must have made her comply, because she quickly leaned back, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

Kyo started with her feet. He took Tohru's pouf and her sweet scented soap and began to cleanse her. Her feet were the cleanest part of her. Next he worked up both of her calves, which had tiny shallow cuts and several bruises. When he got to her private area, he hesitated, gauging her expression. She was staring hollowly at the ceiling, her face completely expressionless. It was as if she didn't know he was even there, though he knew she understood the significance of his actions thus far. He cleansed her very gently, even there. It was necessary.

Then he made it to her stomach. Hatori had removed the bandages, leaving her stitches open. He was very, very gently around her stomach, as it had taken most of the blows. Next was another region that was usually off-limits. Her arms moved when he touched them, without protest of any form. He washed her chest and her neck, then moved to her arms.

"Do you want me to clean your back?"

In answering, Tohru moved herself around, wincing, until she was laying on her stomach. He started with the back of her neck and worked his way down, gentle anywhere he felt it necessary to be. Her back was littered in deep scratch marks, apparently brought on by raking fingernails.

But after this, he hoped all of it would mean nothing. Kyo had cleansed her of everything that the man had done to her. He was no longer in existence after this night.

Hatori had operated on Tohru's head previously, allowing for Kyo to be able to remove the bandages wrapped around her head to wash her hair. Hatori could replace the bandages when he returned.

A large chunk of Tohru's beautiful long hair was missing. Kyo stood. "Stay here," he said. He came back moments later with a pair of scissors and took her gorgeous hair in his hand. Then he cut straight-or what he thought was straight-across and tossed the hair into the garbage can. It was a little shaggy, but it was a cool new look for her. He'd personally pay to have her go somewhere to have it professionally done, but this was good for now.

He picked up a bottle of Tohru's flower and coconut scented shampoo and squeezed a handful into his palm. He worked it into Tohru's soft hair, then scooped handfuls of water onto her head until the soap was gone. He repeated this with her conditioner.

He stood and pulled the plug on the drain. He picked up a familiar fluffy towel with little strawberries sewn neatly into the material and began to dry her off, gently. He towel dried her hair and wrapped it around her body, then lifted her from the tub and took her into the bedroom. He pulled out her softest pajamas. He allowed her to dress herself in her underwear, but he buttoned the top for her and helped her to slide into her pants. She seated herself on the bed as he gently, careful of her cracked skull, brushed through her hair.

Finally, she turned to him, tears in her eyes, and flung her arms around Kyo's neck.

"Kyo!" She cried out. "You have magic hands, Kyo. I love you so much. So much, and after I'm better, I'll never think of that man again. All because of you."

Kyo smiled and held her tightly. He felt so wonderful on the inside, so warm and happy and needed and loved.

He slipped under the covers with Tohru that night, and she fell asleep holding his hand, head and intwined fingers rested on his chest.

Kyo stroked her hair until he heard the front door open and close.

He gently slipped out from under her to go talk to Hatori. He was halfway down the hall when he remembered the reason for needing a word with Hatori.

'I'll never think of that man again,' Tohru had declared.

Now he no longer needed to inquire whether or not Hatori could remove the terrifying memories of that night. He'd done it all by himself. He felt so proud that he didn't even go to Hatori. He climbed back into bed with Tohru and stroked her hair until he, too, fell asleep. (Written by DominoTyler)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kyo woke up the next morning to a soft thudding noise. He was a very light sleeper, and had heard the moment Hatori stepped into the guest bedroom.

His red eyes blinked open and he looked around. Hatori was stepping towards them with no regards to the fact that the two were asleep.

"I need to get over to see Akito-her fever got worse last night-but I need to treat Tohru."

Kyo nodded and looked down at Tohru. "Tohru, love? It's time to wake up, sweetie." Kyo kissed the top of her head.

She made a small noise as she woke, her eyes blinking, taking in the small amount of light in the room.

"Oh, Kyo, Hatori, good morning," she said. It was just like before anything happened. Hatori seemed surprised at her changed demeanor, but didn't comment. She was her old self again and it was brilliant. She smiled kindly, made nice comments on the weather and how she hoped the day would be a fresh one. The only protest she made to removing her pajamas was a slight cringe, but she proceeded to comply.

Kyo was ecstatic.

After Hatori had completed cutting away her bandages to clean her cuts and replace the bandages with fresh ones, he left for Akito.

Tohru got out of bed and moved for her bag. She picked out a floral print sun dress and Yuki's new ribbon.

Kyo left to start breakfast, only to find Ayame asleep on the table. Somehow, this did not surprise him.

He pushed him off and set the table. Ayame jolted awake upon contact with the floor.

"Where have you been?" Kyo asked curiously as he pulled out random breakfast items.

"Are you my mother now, Kyon?" he said, his voice annoying and in a dramatic sort of tone. He stood and flipped his hair over his shoulder, then placed his long pale hands on his hips. "If you must know, I was with my fiancée, Mine. I just came by to pick up the rest of my things."

"And you, you know, passed out on our kitchen table," Kyo put in, gritting his teeth.

Ayame threw up his hands and immediately began to sob. "Alright! I admit it! I was at the bar! A small club around the corner! Do not judge your uncle Ayame, he only means well!"

Ayame threw his arms around Kyo's face. Kyo was surprised the anger radiating from his very skin hadn't burned Ayame clean off.

He knocked Ayame to the floor. "For your information, moron, I don't care where you were. Geez, I regret even asking you."

Ayame stood, right back to his old self. "Oh, hello, dear Tohru! That is a fabulous new hair style, who did you have do it for you?"

"Oh, good morning, Ayame."

Kyo turned quickly. She hadn't worn the dress. Instead she was wearing a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans.

It occurred to him. Her scars, her bandages. His heart sunk.

"Kyo did it for me last night; I rather like it," she continued, smiling. Kyo couldn't even hear her as she continued to chat animatedly with the perverted drama queen of a man. She thanked him, that much he knew, but Kyo couldn't believe he hadn't seen it earlier. She looked so tired. Not old Tohru, just a mask covering this strange new Tohru, induced by the terrible happenings of the other night. No, she was strong! She could make it through this! Silly little scars weren't going to stop her!

Kyo swallowed hard and turned as tears stung his eyes. He'd cried so much recently that he was fearing he was turning into as much of a wimp as Ritsu.

"Oh, Kyo, I could have made breakfast; you've been too nice to me lately."

Kyo turned as Tohru took his mixing spoon away. Kyo shook his head and took it back. He kissed her forehead. "I don't mind cooking if it's for you," he said. "You need to sit down, you'll tire yourself out; get a fever."

"But I-"

"It's alright, Tohru, go on," Kyo said quietly.

She peered up at him through her bangs for a few short seconds before smiling and wrapping her slender, torn up arm around his waist, her broken arm rested against his back.

He couldn't help it. She was just so cute! He threw his arms around her and held her close, swearing to himself that he'd never, ever let something bad happen to her ever again.

He placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head back, doing something he rarely did. He wanted things to go slowly with Tohru.

"I love you," he said before his mouth covered hers.

He was glad Ayame had wandered to the bathroom to empty his stomach, and even more glad that they couldn't hear him.

The kiss edged on a minute long, and was pure bliss for Kyo.

Finally, he pulled away and Tohru's eyes flicked open lightly. She looked him in the face, eyes flitting back and forth. At first, her eyes were clouded over with something like fear, but that soon melted away and was replaced with happiness.

A thought formed it's way into Kyo's mind as he helped her to the couch and turned on some anime for her: the last time she'd been kissed for that long was that night three days ago.

He gulped. But-no. She'd looked happy enough, hadn't she? Of course.

"I love you, Kyo," he heard as he left the room. He placed his hand on the wall before turned and grinned at her.

"I love you, too, Tohru," he replied.

She did love him. Kyo's doubts were erased for the remainder of the morning.

...

After breakfast, Kyo found himself wondering what they were supposed to do now. If it were a normal Saturday, Kyo would have asked her on a date or something. They would have seen a movie or gone to the beach or the zoo or the park. But walking around tired poor Tohru. What would they do? Sit and stare at each other?

His questions were answered when a knock came at the door. Kyo stood from the couch he was sitting on with Tohru, watching the anime from before, and pulled open the door.

"Tohru!"

"Momiji?"

"Kyo."

"Haru?"

"Obviously."

"Hiro?"

"Aw, be nice, Hiro."

"Kisa." Kyo blinked. "What are you people doing here?"

"You didn't say my name, Kyo-Kyo!"

Kyo's eyes spotted Kagura standing in the back. He made no attempt to acknowledge her, she'd seen his look.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded again.

Momiji was going wild, attempting to break through Kyo to get inside Hatori's house.

"I want to see Tohru!" He cried.

"Momiji?"

Kyo turned around to see Tohru walking tipsily into the room. Her whole face seemed to light up. "Haru, Kisa, Hiro, Kagura! What is everyone doing here?"

"We came to see you!" Momiji announced, finally pushing passed Kyo and latching his arms around her. He was a head taller than her by now, and he'd started wearing a boys uniform, winning himself a girlfriend. She wasn't as nice as Tohru, but she was good for Momiji. Her mother had been a vegetable nearly her entire life, so she understood what he was going through, being able to see her mom but never being able to reach her. And to top it off, she loved him even more when he told her he used to be half rabbit.

The afternoon was spent catching up with each other. Hiro and Kisa had gone to a school dance together. Haru and Rin were going steady. Kagura had found love as well with a kind red head, and they were all invited to the wedding in six months.

At around six, Uo and Hana burst through the door and ransacked the entire house before finding them all gathered in the family room. By now the two knew of every strange thing going on with the Sohma family. While Tohru, of all people, had insisted it stay a secret, desperately trying to preserve her valiant efforts at keeping the Zodiac hidden, the other Sohma's gladly welcomed Tohru's two friends into the group.

The day ended at eight, when Tohru insisted she cook for everyone. But Kyo knew that would only cause them to all stay late into the night, and Tohru needed to be in bed in about an hour.

So while Kyo cooked their dinner, Tohru showered. She went to bed after picking at her food a little bit.

Kyo left the shower wrapped in a towel and wandered into the kitchen to retrieve a small snack. He couldn't help it-he was starving.

He was surprised to find Hatori there, leaning over the sink, staring out the window at the moon. He tried to sneak backwards so he could just dress and slide into bed, but Hatori spoke up.

"Kyo, I have a question for you," Hatori said without even looking away. "It's personal, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Whatever," Kyo replied, digging through the fridge and coming back with leftovers from the night's supper.

"How much do you love Tohru?"

They sat in cold silence while Kyo swallowed. "More than anything. All my heart. To the end of the universe and back. That enough for you? Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm about to tell you something, but I don't want you to be looking at Tohru any differently afterwards."

"Nothing could change my mind," Kyo replied honestly. His curiosity, though, had struck something in his stomach. He was no longer hungry.

"Kyo..." Hatori said, taking a pause. "Tohru's pregnant." (Written by DominoTyler)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kyo wouldn't have been more surprised if Hatori had told him that he was destined to fly across the desert dressed as a ballerina and guarded by seven thousand angry hoards of flying boars. His eyes bugged wide out of his head and he felt all sweaty out of no where.

His mind was scrambling to put things together.

How does that happen again? She can't get pregnant from a kiss? No, it starts as a kiss. Babies come from...? When I put my...in...duh...

"How?"

Kyo soon realized that there were many better questions for this situation, such as "How do you know?" and "Who's the father?"

All he could stupidly say was "How?"

Hatori found the question quite stupid as well. "Do I need to explain the process of a baby's journey?"

Kyo cringed. "No. Thanks...But how can you possibly know? It's been what? Three days since it happened? Three days!"

Hatori rose an eyebrow. "So it's not yours then?

"Mi...-" He broke off into a small laugh, devoid of any sort of humor, filled solely with incredulous anger. "Of course not! I would never do that to Tohru! We haven't..." he broke off as he reorganized his words. "I mean, we've never slept together!" He finally hissed. "I just want to know how you know!"

"I'm a doctor."

"No doctor could figure it out by just looking at her after only three days."

"I can."

"How?" Kyo asked desperately.

Hatori sighed. "You understand that, being part animal for so long, some of our senses are more increased than with normal humans?"

"Yeah..." Kyo said, recalling how easily he had been woken that morning.

"Well, for Ayame, for some reason, he's always been able to predict strange things going on with other people's bodies."

Kyo felt like heaving. "That's disgusting."

"It's the truth," Hatori said. "He knows how to irritate people so well just because he can sense the levels of anxiety and anger and annoyance. He went crazy when that whole thing happened with Rin and Haru. All of that teenage angst amongst the Sohma's."

Kyo rolled his eyes. Then he frowned and fell into a chair.

"My Tohru? My little, innocent Tohru?" He whispered.

Hatori turned away from the moon for the first time. "I'm sorry, kid," he said. "I-I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," Kyo said finally. "Especially not to Tohru."

"She'll have to find out sometime," Hatori pointed out.

"I know..." Kyo said, standing up. "But she just got over learning that she'd lost her virginity to the creep. I don't want the fact that she's having the guy's kid weighing her down."

Hatori nodded.

Tohru, though, knew anyways. Curled up in the slightly damp bathtub, she let tears fall.

Why had this happened? She felt a surge of pure rage. It was so foreign, but she rode the wave of anger. She wanted to scream and tear at her hair.

She needed a way to get her anger at the man out of her. She grabbed the nearest thing she could find-she razor on the counter. Her hand clenched around it tightly and she chucked it at the wall as hard as she could. It exploded into little metal splinters.

She hissed and opened her hand, which was clenched by instinct now. The razor had sliced into the palm of her hand. She again found herself completely entranced by the sight of her blood. As more seeped out, she felt more relief.

But the anger. It was still there.

Tohru hated the idea, but she needed the anger out of herself. She was choking on it. It was hurting her. If it was the only way...

Tohru took one of the razor splinters and held it to the skin on her arm, not her wrist, just a bit higher. She didn't want to die. At least, she didn't think she wanted to die.

She took a deep breath and winced, only a little, as the metal pierced her flesh. She shivered and dropped the shard, watching herself bleed. Soon, though she began to felt dizzy. The sight of blood used to do that to her. Now she was catching up with herself. She tumbled over backwards, laying in a pool of blood and razors.

...

"Tohru?"

Kyo was growing worried. Tohru had been in the bathroom for a long time. And the weird thing-he couldn't hear water running, a toilet flushing, absolutely no movement at all.

He was beyond worried by now. If she didn't answer in ten more seconds...

"Tohru, please, answer me!"

3...2...1...

Kyo bashed the door in and his stomach lurched at the sight.

"Tohru!" He exclaimed, stumbling towards her. "Oh, Tohru... What happened?"

He reached into the tub and gingerly lifted her out. He hissed when a blood covered razor slit the palm of his hand, but he shook it off and did the only thing he could think of. He ran.

He left the bathroom and ran down the hall. He ran past the living room and dining room, and almost right out the kitchen door, when Hatori quickly stopped him and, eyes wild, demanded he place her in her bed while he got his medical kit.

Kyo ran there, too, and laid her on the bed. He stroked away her hair and cried over her.

"Why would you do that, Tohru, huh?" he said vehemently when she started to wake. "Why?" He kissed all of the visible skin on her face.

"I..." she said weakly. "...don't know..."

He sighed and held her un-damaged hand as Hatori gave her more stitches.

"Here, Kyo, give me your hand."

Kyo hadn't even felt the deep cut in his palm. He absolutely refused stitches.

After he was bandaged and Hatori had left, he sat with Tohru until she fell asleep.

Then, he returned to the kitchen. Shigure and Ayame were there as well.

"Good, Kyo can help," Shigure said.

"Help with what, you old lecher?" Kyo said cautiously.

Shigure ignored the insulting name. He simply opened the silverware drawer, scooped all of the knives into his hand, and dumped them in the garbage.

Kyo caught on. He went through the house gathering every razor, tack, nail, screw, pocket-knife, metal tipped mechanism-everything went. Shigure put the bag in the back of his car and zoomed off to the dump, to be back in the morning to check on Tohru.

"She must have overheard us," Hatori explained. "The shock...I've seen it do worse."

"Worse?" Kyo snapped. "What could be worse? She mutilated herself! She could have died!"

They had no answer.

"Whatever," Kyo said. "I still love her, no matter what. From now on, she's my responsibility. I'm keeping her safe. As soon as she's well enough, I'm taking her away from here, marrying her, and I'll take care other and anyone else along the way."

Kyo turned and thundered down the hallway to Tohru's bedroom. By now it was 3 AM, and he collapsed into a chair beside her bed, asleep until morning. (Written by DominoTyler)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Are you sure you want to do this, Kyo? It's a huge responsibility, and you're only eighteen..."

"I don't care," Kyo said vehemently, taking Tohru's bag from Shigure's hand. "She needs this. And it won't be just me, remember? Our neighbour Ben is coming with."

Shigure shifted. "That isn't much consolation. I've never met him. And you're taking away my delicate Tohru! I can't believe this!"

"Tohru needs this, Shigure," Kyo repeated. "And it's not so far. We're only moving a few towns over."

But Shigure made a big deal out of it anyways. He cried and latched onto him and refused to let go, even when he kicked him across the room.

Yuki eventually pried him off and knocked him nearly unconscious. Then he gently hugged Tohru and patted Kyo awkwardly on the arm before retreating into the house. Kyo helped Tohru into Ben's truck, handed up their bags, and got in behind her, shutting the door as Ben took off down the road.

"I can't believe you wanted to come with me," Ben said. "I mean, I'm grateful and all that you're helping me buy this place, but are you sure you want to?"

Kyo nodded. "Yes. And thank you for letting us come. Tohru needs to get away."

Ben had lost his house in a fire a few days before, and so he was going to start again a few towns away. When Kyo heard that he could just barely afford a months rent at the new place, he latched onto the idea of living with him and helping him pay. Ben couldn't thank him enough.

"By the way," Kyo said, "this is Tohru."

"Hello, Tohru," Ben said, winking at her through the rearview mirror. "We haven't formally met yet. I'm Ben Long, pleased to meet you."

Tohru smiled and said weakly, "Pleased to meet you, too! I'm Tohru Honda."

"I know," he said, turning a corner. "We met, but you were...indisposed."

She smiled a little and leaned into Kyo, who stroked her hair softly, being gentle of the bandaged area.

"So, do you and Tohru want to share a bedroom, or...?"

Kyo didn't even know. Should they?

"There are separate beds," Ben added.

"Then yeah, I guess we could... Is that okay with you, Tohru?" He looked down at the top of her head. She nodded. (Written by DominoTyler)


	9. Chapter 9

Hello! This is Colette again. I just wanted to remind you that these past 8 chapters have been written by DominoTyler. That was not my awesome work. I am going to try and get this as good as she had it. This is my first fanfic, so we'll see how it goes. :) Oh, and I'll try to post about once a week.

Chapter 9

Ben turned another corner, pushing the accelerator down. "Okay," he said. "There are two bedrooms, like I said. One is closer to the living room, one if closer to the bathroom. Which bedroom do you guys want?"

Kyo and Tohru were both quiet, and Ben looked at them in the rear-view mirror. He stopped at a light, and turned toward them. "You guys got a preference?"

Tohru turned her head and looked at Kyo. He kept stroking her hair, and smiled at her. They turned their heads back to Ben and both shook their head.

Ben turned back to the road, saying, "Okay, but you don't get the choice when you see the house. I want the one closer to the bathroom, you two can have the one closer the the living room. Are you cool with that?" They nodded.

The left turn signal clicked, and Ben turned. His car buzzed down the road, and there was hardly a car in sight.

Tohru leaned off of Kyo's chest, and looked out her window. Kyo stared at her back, but he turned to the front window. "Ben?" she asked. "How far away is this house?"

Ben thought for a minute, and then glanced at her. "Well, it's the next town over. It will take us a few minutes to get there. Tohru nodded, and kept looking out the window. Trees were buzzing past, and it made her head hurt. She turned to the back of the seat in front of her, and closed her eyes.

"Tohru, are you okay?" Kyo asked, turning toward his girlfriend. Her face was pale, and her eyes pinched closed. She didn't say anything in returned, which worried Kyo. "Tohru? What's wrong?"

Her brain brought back painful memories of that night. That awful man's face flashed in her head, and she shuddered. She thought of that mans child, resting in her. She put her hand on her stomach, and Kyo knew what she was thinking about. "Tohru, don't think about that man. He's gone, forever. Just think about Ben, you, and me. We're going to have a new life, together." Torhu opened her eyes, and the man vanished. Instead, her friends filled her eyes.

She smiled, and nodded. "Thanks. I know we're going to have fun together."

Ben turned a sharp right, and Kyo fell over, knocking her head into Tohru's. He pulled back to his seat, and rubbed his forehead. "Sheesh" he snapped, "What was that for, Ben?" Ben snickered, but didn't answer. He growled at Ben, but stopped at the sound of Torhu's sobbing. "Torhu? What's wrong?" He asked in the sweetest voice he could muster.

She brushed the tears off her face with the back of her hand, and held her temple. "N-nothing," She managed to say through her sobs. In the fall, Kyo had hit the sore spot on her head.

"Torhu! I'm so sorry! I'll make it feel better." He leaned over, and kissed her bandage. She kept the rest of the tears from falling, and smiled.

"Thank you, Kyo!" She winced in pain, but smiled even brighter.

Ben pulled onto a small side road, and then drove to the end of the street. There was a dead end, and he pulled into a parking spot at the end of the street. To their left, there was a little house, without even a driveway.

Ben took the keys out of his ignition, opened his door, and stepped onto the street. He took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Kyo pushed his door opened, and walked around the car to open the door for Tohru. She got out, almost fell over, and Kyo braced her. She smiled, and continued to walk around the end of the car.

They all looked at the house, and Kyo and Torhu tilted their heads.

The house was in shambles.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello All! Colette here again. I hope you liked the last chapter, and are ready for another.

I feel like there is something else I should write here, but for now, I din't have anything. So enjoy. :D

Chapter 10

"Ben, did you even see a picture of this place before you bought it?" Kyo asked. It wasn't like it was a bad house. There were just a few problems with it. And by a few, there were a lot.

The shutters were lopsided, and the paint peeling. The door was on straight, but Kyo wasn't sure he wanted to open it. They didn't want to see what was on the inside.

"Oh, come on! It's going to be great," Ben said, trying to encourage them. Ben grabbed his suitcase, and walked to the door. He pushed open the door, and, to Kyo's surprise, it stayed on it's hinges. "Come one in!" Kyo turned to Torhu, who had grabbed his arm to stay steady.

"Tohru? Are you okay?" Kyo asked.

She looked at at his face, smiled, and said, "Of course. Let's go inside and check it out!" She let go of Kyo's hand, and walked toward the house. Kyo sighed, but picked up their bags and followed after her.

When they walked inside, it was nicer then the outside looked. The walls were a pretty sun drop yellow, and the ceilings weren't too low. The floors were tiled, like they were use to at home. The living room was right there after the entrance, and the kitchen was off to the side. There was a hallways, two bedrooms and a bathroom. "See," Ben said, justifying himself, "It's not so bad."

Kyo was about to say something, but Torhu interrupted him, "I love it! Thank you so much Ben!" She ran over and gave him a big hug.

"Yeah, well there is something wrong with this house, but I suppose we can deal with it," Kyo said smiling.

He walked over to the first bedroom, and looked inside. Just like Ben has promised, there were two beds. They were pushed up against the opposite wall from the door, made and neat. There was only one closet, but that wasn't a problem. Both Torhu and Kyo didn't have many things to put into a closet, and that one looked big enough. Kyo set their bags down in the bedroom, and walked back into the hallway. There wasn't anything on the long wall, so he walked to see the other rooms. At the end of the hallway, there was a bathroom. It was small, but had everything that they needed. Kiddie corner from the bathroom was another bedroom. It was smaller then Kyo and Torhu's, so he was glad that Ben chose it.

When Kyo walked back to the living room, Ben and Torhu weren't there. He assumed they were in the kitchen, so he walked over. He couldn't hear any talking, but he thought maybe they were whispering. He walked around the wall that divided the kitchen from the living room, and didn't see anyone. His eyes grew wide, and started to panic. "Torhu? Ben? Where are you guys? This isn't funny!" He walked over to the pantry, and whipped open the door. Seeing no one inside, he slammed the door closed again. "Guys?" He opened another door, and there was a washing machine and dryer that greeted him.

He pulled open a third door, but it was just a closet. "Torhu, Ben!" He ran to the front door, and pulled on his shoes, running outside. They weren't there either. Kyo slumped over int the grass, and put his head in his hands. Torhu and Ben walked around the corner of the house, and saw Kyo, hunched over.

"Kyo!" Torhu yelled, and ran over to him. Kyo didn't raise his head, and she set her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Kyo raised his head, and looked at Torhu. His anger and sadness were overtaken, but he wasn't sure what with. He guessed love, but it wasn't the same feeling. He stood, helping her up, and hugged her for a long time. He pulled back, and kissed her forehead. "Nothing now, my dear Torhu." Ben just stood awkwardly by the house, and went back inside after a few minutes of watching them. Neither of them noticed. "What were you doing with Ben, Torhu?" He asked, over a few moments of silence.

"We were just looking a the backyard. There isn't much of one, and it's nothing like the Shigure's house. I just wanted to see if it was like home. It wasn't."

"Really? Show me." Torhu smiled, and grabbed Kyo's hand. She started walking and Kyo followed.

When they got around to the back yard, Kyo was surprised how different it looked from both Shigure's house and Sohma estate. "Wow, you're right, it is different."

"That's because this is a normal house!" Ben called from inside the house. They looked over to the house. His head was sticking out a window. To Kyo's surprise, the back of the house looked way better then the front. He laughed, and pulled Torhu's arm a little.

"Let's go back inside." Torhu nodded, and they walked back to the door.

...

"So," Ben said when they walked back into the house. "We should think about food. There isn't any in the fridge, so should we go out to eat. Or we could-"

"No, I want to make something," Torhu said bravely. "We can go the grocery store and get somethings, and then I can make you guys food."

"Are you sure Torhu? I'm perfectly fine with just getting something out tonight. You can cook for us tomorrow-" Kyo was saying, but she cut him off.

"No. I want to cook for you tonight, I'm sure," Torhu said, her mind already made up. Kyo and Ben shrugged, but didn't want to push the matter any further.

"Okay, let's get going. We still have to make it to the store and back, and I'm hungry," Ben said. Torhu nodded, and walked toward the door. She pulled on her shoes, and stepped outside. The two boys were still coming.

The sun has gone behind a large section of big black clouds. Tohru thought she felt a rain drop on her head, but she didn't feel another one. She ignored the dark clouds and walked to the car. Ben has left it unlocked, so Torhu got in the back seat. She waited for Ben and Kyo to come out. Tohru, not used to being alone after all this time, she zoned out easily. She thought about everything that happened in the past couple weeks. It was all happening so fast. She brought her hand to her stomach, and thought about the little baby growing inside of her. She wanted him to be born with bright orange hair, just like Kyo, but she sadly knew that wasn't going to happen. She didn't remember what the bad man looked like, but she didn't want to be reminded. She thought maybe it would look just like her.

When the car doors opened, she jumped a little. Since she wasn't paying attention to what was going on, it startled her. "Torhu, what did I tell you about zoning out when you are by yourself? Your'e going to end up hurting yourself," Kyo said protectively.

"I'm sorry, Kyo. I haven't had time to just think in a while. It caught up to me." Kyo shrugged, and got into the back seat next to Torhu.

Ben jumped in the driver's seat, and said, "Hey, you both sitting back there makes me feel like a chauffeur." Kyo let out a small laugh.

"Sorry."

"Oh you are not," Ben said, laughing.

"No, I'm really not." Ben rolled his eyes, and started up the car. He started down the street to the supermarket.

…

Ben and Kyo were both bored after about five minutes of being in the supermarket. Torhu was happily picking out groceries, and dumping them into her basket. She was only getting things that were necessary for a few days. She would come back sometime before work in the next few days. She pulled milk, butter, eggs, and bread from the shelves, then went and looked for pasta and pasta sauce after that. "Oh, I forget to ask! Do you like pasta Ben? I know Kyo does, but do you? And do you like miso or leeks on your pasta?" Kyo gagged just thinking about the two ingredients she mentioned. She giggled, and faced Ben.

"Tohru, I love pasta. And miso and leeks too. Lots of them," Ben said, laughing. Kyo punched him in the arm without a smile.

"Great. Now I have eat leeks AND miso," Kyo complained. "Tohru, can you make it without miso and leeks, please?"

Tohru laughed, and said, "Yeah, I'll make it without miso and leeks." Ben dropped his shoulders, and Torhu continued, "But I'll buy them so you can put them on, Ben." Ben smiled, and he nodded. Kyo glared at Ben, but didn't say anything more.

Torhu finished checking out, and Kyo payed for the groceries. Ben carried the bags out to the car, and they drove home. Torhu was beaming, she was so excited to cook finally. She hadn't in almost three weeks, and you could tell it was getting to her.

When they pulled up to the house, Torhu was the first one inside. She pulled out the pots that she knew where there, she had put them there herself, and put it under the sink. She filled it up with water, and put in on the stove when there was enough water. Ben and Kyo stood in the living room, and waited for dinner to be ready.

There wasn't any furniture in the living room, and there was a small table in the dining room. It wasn't what they were use to, but it would have to work.

Torhu called them over for diner, and they gladly came. "I'm so excited to try your cooking, Tohru!" Ben said. Tohru nodded, and placed the pots of pasta, miso, and leeks on the table.

They ate, and Ben and Kyo cleaned up the kitchen. Tohru went into her and Kyo's room. She sat on the bed, and pulled out a journal and pen from her bag. Kisa gave it to her, and she intended to write in it every day.

...

"Tohru? Are you okay?" Kyo asked as he walked into his room. Torhu was laying down on one of the beds, eyes closed. "Torhu?" He whispered. She didn't open her eyes, and he walked over to her bed. He sat on the edge, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. He looked at the journal laying open at her side. He decided not to read it after reading the first line. It read "Today, was the best day I've had in a long time..." He stood up, and closed the door as he left.

"Is Torhu alright?" Ben asked concerned.

"Yeah, she's fine. Just sleeping." Ben nodded, and him and Kyo talked for a long time.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello! I am SO happy you are still reading. This is my third chapter I've written, and I love how it's going. I hope you do to :) As you can tell, I don't do the best job of updating once a week, but I will try to update more now (seeing it's Christmas break and all).

Random thought of the day: I love these story cubes that I have. You roll them, and then you can use the pictures on the side you rolled...

Chapter 11

When Kyo crawled into his bed, Tohru was still sound asleep. "Goodnight Tohru," he whispered to her. Then he closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

...

_Kyo was standing right outside his house. It was the middle of the day, and Ben was inside. Tohru was walking down the path toward the car. He was going to take her to work. She had found a new job closer their house, so she wouldn't have to walk home a long way in the dark. As she was coming to the car, a dark haze come over his eyes, and he couldn't see anything. When the haze was gone, so was Torhu. Gone. He ran inside, and asked Ben if he had seen her. He shook his head, and didn't even care that she has gone missing. _

_Kyo ran out of the house, and ran downtown. He didn't even take the car, he literally ran down the streets. When he got to the address of the place were Tohru was suppose to be working, it was a playboy club. He was sweating now, as he opened the door and walked inside. There were many tables, and there were men standing at them, all drinking or smoking, or both. The smell was disgusting to Kyo's over sensitive nose, and the sight was worse. The girls serving the men were hardly dressed, and they were flirting seductively with the men. He looked around for Tohru, hoping there was some mistake. _

_When he couldn't find her, he asked at the bar in the back of the club. The manager was there, and he said that Tohru was a well loved worker. Kyo, confused, told him it was her first day. He shook his head, breaking the news to Kyo that she had worked there for a while. Kyo's heart sunk, and he asked the manager if she was there._

"_Well," the manager said, "Of course she's here. She's already served several dozen men, and seductively roomed a few." Just then Tohru walked out from a room, in the same skimpy clothing as everyone else. She winked at Kyo seductively, and went to another table. She kissed a guy from there, and, grabbing his arm, dragged him into a different room. _

In the middle of the night, Kyo jerked out of bed, breathing heavily. He looked over, and saw Tohru still sound asleep the same way when he fell asleep. _It was just a dream, just a really bad dream,_ he thought to himself. He lay back down, but the images of Tohru in that club just kept coming back to him. He shook his head, and stood up, not wanting to wake up Tohru or Ben. He walked to the kitchen, and opened the fridge, looking for some milk. It was there, lonely, sitting on the top shelf. He grabbed it, and poured himself a glass. He drank the milk cold, not wanting to use the microwave to heat it up, in case Ben or Tohru would wake up.

He took a few deep breaths, rinsed out his cup, left it in the sink, and walked back to his bedroom. He crawled back into his bed, and tried to sleep. It didn't work. He ended up pulling a shirt over his head, and found his way to the roof. It didn't take him long, the attic was easy to find, and then he could climb out the window from there.

He sat there, looking at the stars. In some strange way, he missed home. He missed fighting with Yuki, and keeping Tohru out of the hands of Shigure. He shook off that last thought. He defiantly didn't miss that rat, and he didn't miss that rat shoving leeks in his mouth. He didn't miss Shigure flirting with Tohru in his own way, and he didn't miss the transformations. He hadn't thought about that, but he really hated transforming into that stupid orange cat. Now that it was gone, he was happy. He didn't have to worry about hugging Tohru, and he didn't have to worry about that stupid bracelet coming off. He rubbed his wrist, and nodded. He really didn't miss that bracelet. Although he was glad that Tohru has collected all the beads and kept them.

Just as he was looking back up into the sky, big black clouds blocked out all the stars. _Crap,_ he thought. The rain just poured down from the clouds. _Damn. _He scrambled to get back into the window, but slipped on a wet shingle. He tired to sturdy himself, but his other foot slipped, and he fell off the roof.

"Damn it!" He yelled, as he fell from the roof. He thought for a split second, and ended up flipping himself over. He landed on his feet, but just barely. He stumbled, and fell over. He landed in a mud puddle. He sighed, and stood back up. He brushed as much of the mud off as he could. He walked back inside, and shut the door as quietly as he could behind him. He turned to head back to his room, and saw two concerned friends standing there.

"Kyo? Are you okay man?" Ben asked. After seeing all the mud on his clothes, though, he laughed. Tohru gave Ben a strange look, and then turned back to Kyo. "You did scream mighty loud," he attempted to say through his gasps of breath. Kyo glared at him, and snarled his nose. Ben kept laughing, and said, "But, hey, I mean, good job landing on your feet. That mud puddle being there was rather unfortunate." Ben was laughing so hard he fell over and rolled around.

Kyo stormed over to Ben, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up off the ground. "YOU SURE YOU WANT TO KEEP LAUGHING?" Kyo was about to punch him, but Tohru stopped him.

"Kyo! Don't do that! It's okay, I thought it was cool." She smiled at him, and he dropped Ben with a scowl on his face. "Trust me, it was cooler then you'd think. I'd say almost heroic." She walked over to him, and kissed him. That turned Kyo's scowl into a smile.

"Man, I have to get myself a girlfriend," Ben whispered. Kyo chuckled, and grabbed Tohru's hand. She took her hand away, and he gave her a strange look.

"We should wash your clothes, otherwise the mud will never come out." Kyo nodded, and walked to his room. He looked at his clock, and saw it was 4:30. _Well, it's not worth sleeping again now. _He pulled on the jeans he wore yesterday, and brought his muddy clothes out to Tohru.

"Jeans? It's still night!" she said.

"Yeah, but it's not worth going back to bed now. It's 4:30. I can't sleep anyway. I had a bad dream." Once he said that he regretted it. Now Tohru was going to ask what the dream was about.

"Oh no! A bad dream! What was it about." He knew it.

"Um, well... it was just bad. I'll tell you later, maybe," Kyo said awkwardly. Tohru nodded slowly, and walked over to the washing machines. She pushed his shirt and sweat pants into the washer, dumped some soap in, and turned it on. The machine hummed into action, and she walked back into the living room.


	12. Chapter 12

HEY! Colette here. But you knew that. Well, here it is, good ol' chapter 12. What do you guys think? Do you like it? Well, I do. IDEA! If you guys get any ideas that you think should happen, private message me, or comment it. Maybe I'll add it :)

Random thought of the day: It's Christmas Eve. I love Christmas. The food, the fellowship, the laughs, well, and the presents...

Chapter 12

Ben still hadn't gotten up from the ground when Tohru got back into the living room. She sighed, se was still tired. But it Ben and Kyo were going to be up, then she didn't want to sleep. "Can I get you guys something to eat? There isn't much, but I could make something. I could probably make some pancakes..." She wandered into the kitchen before they had the chance to decline.

"Tohru, you don't have to cook anything. We're fine," Kyo said, walking into the kitchen. Tohru yawned, and pulled the butter out of the fridge. "Look, Tohru, you're still tired. You have to go back to bed. Put the butter back." Tohru put the butter back, and closed the door. "Okay, you need to go back to bed." Tohru shook her head. "Come on. You're tired, you have to." She shook her head again, and almost fell over in exhaustion. Kyo picked her up, and carried her to her bed.

He pulled back the cover, and put her head on her pillow. He pulled the covers back up to cover her body. He turned to leave, but Tohru was clasping his hand. He turned back to her, and she was asleep. He sighed, and crawled into the bed behind her. He put his arms around her waist. Her shirt was soft on his bare chest, and her hair smelled like strawberries. "I love you Tohru," he whispered as he fell asleep.

...

"Hey! Wake up!" Ben yelled. Kyo opened his eyes, and noticed Tohru wasn't there anymore. _How long have I been asleep? _He thought. He sat up, and saw he was in Tohru's bed. He remembered earlier that morning, and scowled.

"Stupid rain, stupid mud," he muttered. Tohru was sitting on his bed, folding his now clean shirt and sweatpants. "Hey, Tohru, how long have I been asleep?"

"Well," she answered. "It's noon now, so you've been sleeping for seven and a half hours." Kyo stomach growled, and Tohru continued, "Oh, I made you a sandwich for lunch. Would you like it?" Kyo nodded, and Tohru rushed out of the room. When she came back in, Kyo noticed the bandage from her head was gone. There wasn't any blood dried on her hair. Now that he looked at, her hair was in two braids down the side of her head. She had a yellow sundress on, and the bows that tied her hair in braids were the same color yellow.

"Tohru, you look cute today," he said, as she handed him his sandwich.

"Thank you! Oh, and please don't crumbs in my bed." He took a big bite and was very careful not to let the fall crumbs in her bed.

When he was done, Tohru came back in a took his plate. "Thank you," he said, as she walked out the door. Kyo got out of bed, and followed her out into the living room. Ben was sitting on the floor, there was still no furniture in the living room, and Torhu was in the kitchen.

"Hey," Ben said as Kyo walked by. Kyo stopped and turned to him. "Are you feeling okay? You were a little flustered this morning. What happened?"

"I fell in the mud," Kyo said simply.

"Well, yeah, I caught that, but what made you leave the house anyway? You were on the roof, that's a little strange. Why?" Kyo looked around, and, seeing that Tohru was still in the kitchen, he sat down by Ben and explained.

"Well, I had a bad dream last night. Tohru was working in a playboy club, and," Kyo shuddered, and didn't continue.

"Yikes, that's a little freaky." Ben stopped and thought for a moment, and then continued, "Our little Torhu? That's awful. But, you know what they say, right? You dream about what you're thinking about."

"Why would you think I'd work in a playboy club, Kyo?" Tohru asked. Just because she wasn't in the room, doesn't mean she couldn't hear him. Kyo stood up, and walked over to Tohru.

"I didn't think that. It was a dream, a really, really bad dream. I promise, I couldn't ever see your working in a playboy club." Tohru seemed to be comforted enough. She wrapped his arms around him, and they embraced for a few moments. He kissed her forehead, then walked back to his room. He grabbed a shirt from his closet, and walked back out into the living room.

...

They sat there and talked for a while. Finally, Tohru got up and walked into the kitchen. She checked the time, and walked back into the living room. "I have to be to work in about two hours. Do you think you can take me to the supermarket now? Then I can get the rest of our groceries, and get to work on time." Ben nodded, and went to grab his keys. Hearing the word "work" sent a shiver down Kyo's back, but he didn't say anything. He knew that Tohru would never work at a playboy club, so he wasn't sure why he was worried.

"Alright Tohru, let's go. You coming, Kyo?"

He stood up, "Why not?"

Once they got to the supermarket, Ben got out of the car, and started walking with Tohru into the building. Kyo didn't really want to, he really hated shopping, but he decided to go in anyway. He couldn't let some other guy assist his girlfriend, right?

The sliding doors opened for the three of them, and they shopped. Tohru would dump things in the cart, and the boys, bored out of their minds, would organize the container by size and color. When they got to the check-out, their cart was fully color coded, and the cashier was impressed.

"Say, Tohru," Ben asked when they were loading the groceries into the car, "Where do you work?" Once again, that word sent a shiver down Kyo's back.

"Well, I am a waitress at the family restaurant down the street. Today, I start work at six, so we're right on time." Hearing Torhu say that brought a sigh of relief to Kyo's lips. Tohru laughed alittle, and then said, "I will get done at closing, which is nine. Should I walk home, or-"

"No, Tohru, we know what happened last time you walked home," Kyo said. Nobody had to remind her. It was quiet the rest of the way to the restaurant. When Ben pulled up, Tohru got out, and gave them strict instructions.

"When you get home, take care of all the groceries, and don't forget. If you don't know where something goes, look on the label, it should say. Okay? Have a good time." She smiled, and shut her door. She walked into the restaurant, and Ben drove away.

"Maybe we should just go there for dinner, we can't cook," Ben said.

"I can cook," Kyo said defensively. "Maybe I can't cook as good as Tohru, but I'm pretty close. We cook together a lot." Ben nodded, but Kyo didn't feel like fighting.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey! I am SOOO sorry I haven't updated recently. I have been really busy, and I haven't been able to upload documents for a while. That was strange. But anyway, I can again. Yay!

Random thought: So, does anyone have any ideas for things that could happen? I'm kinda running low, and I don't know where this story is going. I know that's an awful thing to say, but it's true. XP

Chapter 13

When Ben and Kyo got home, Be was surprised to find two people laying in the grass. They were talking, and one of them had their hand in the air, pointing to the sky. "I wonder who that is," Ben asked, hoping Kyo might have an idea. Kyo turned his head, and noticed the hands.

"I think I know who that is." Kyo jumped out of the car, and he walked over toward the people. Sitting there in the grass, Hatsuharu and Isuzu Sohma. They were talking about who knows what, and Haru was pointing at the clouds. "Haru," Kyo said. "What are you doing here?"

Ben walked over, and he saw the two Sohma's sitting in the grass. "Sheesh, how many relatives do you have?" He asked jokingly.

"More then you could imagine," Hatsuharu said, standing up. The three guys chuckled a little, then Haru turned around and pulled his girlfriend up. He looked at Ben, then over to Rin, and back to Ben. "I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Hatsuharu Sohma, and this is Isuzu Sohma. We're Kyo's cousins." Haru ran a hand through his black and white hair, then shook Ben's hand. Rin looked at Ben suspiciously, but finally shook his hand.

Ben asked, "So, why are you guys here?" Haru smiled, and Kyo dropped his shoulders.

"Well," Haru said, "We just wanted to visit. Mostly we wanted to see how Tohru was doing."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Kyo said. "Well, Torhu isn't here right now. She's working." Kyo shuddered, but he continued. "She'll be back in a few hours, so you can come back then."

"Can't they just wait here?" Ben asked. "I want to get to know some more of your relatives." Kyo sighed, annoyed, but he nodded. Ben smiled, and showed their guests inside they house.

…

They gave Haru and Rin the grand tour, and then they settled in the living room. "Where's the furniture?" Everyone laughed and Ben answered.

"Well, none of us have furniture, and furniture's expensive. We're going shopping for it tomorrow."

"We are?" Kyo asked, hating the idea already.

"Well, yeah," Ben said. "We'll go with Tohru and get some furniture. We can't keep sitting on the ground like this."

Kyo nodded. "Yeah, You're right. But do we have to go? I think Tohru can do a great job by herself."

"You're going to just let your girlfriend shop alone, after what happened last time she was alone," Haru said, creating an awkward silence.

After a few moments in the silence, Kyo said, "No, I won't. Of course I'm going to go with her!" Everyone laughed at his enthusiasm.

...

They talked for a long time, and all of them seem to lose track of time. They had remembered to put the groceries away, thanks to Ben. Kyo had cooked something for dinner for the four of them. They were just bringing the dishes into the kitchen, when there was a knock on the door. Ben looked at the clock, which read _9:20_, and said, "Crap!" He ran to the door, and opened it.

"Well, I never expected to walk home after my friends told me not to," Tohru said, smile on her face. Ben gave her a hug, and the rest of the gang walked over to the door.

"Tohru!" Kyo said, joining the hug. "I'm so sorry!" Haru and Rin joined the hug too.

"I love all you guys, but I can't breath," Tohru just managed to squeak. They all let her go, and her smiled spread to all of them. "Rin! Hatsuharu! I'm so glad to see you!" Tohru said, giving both of them small hugs.

Tohru walked inside and opened the fridge. Everyone joined her in the kitchen, and she pulled out a small container of soup. She warmed it up and ate it. All the while there was warming conversation in the house.

"So, I've been wondering this for a while," Ben started, " Where you guys animals before?"

Haru and Rin shared a look, and they both glared at Kyo. "Why are you looking at me?" He asked. "Ben figured it out himself."

"Not like we care, anymore. Although, Akito might still hate you," Haru said.

"Anyway," Rin said, "I was the horse, and Haru was the ox." Haru nodded

"Oh, that would explain the hair," Ben said. The Sohma's all laughed, and Haru nodded.


	14. Chapter 14

Whew. It's been a while. I apologize in advance.

Would it be awful to say that I just want this story to be over? Well I'm going to say it. I just want this story to be over. I have found out, and very quickly, that writing two stories at once if just crazy. I really do like the concept of this story, and, eventually, I might go an add a middle section to it. But, for now, you are just going to have to deal with this. :D

And to be honest, I really do love this story. Don't get me wrong. I just need to wrap it up. Don't leave this fanfiction, never to be reread, because I will probably go back in and write the middle. It's just going to take a while. Oh, and I will probably mark it as complete, but, like I said earlier, it probably won't be finished. ;)

Random Thought of the day: It's 70˚ outside, and I have a blanket over my legs. Whoops. ^^ Sometimes, with it being this hot, I want the 20-30˚ back again.

Chapter 14

_2:03 p.m.,_ Ben thought. _It's been over fifteen hours. How much longer I don't know. Gosh, I've got to get to sleep. _Ben found it hard to stay awake, and all of the Sohma's understood. He had been in the hospital just as long as Kyo and Tohru.

Seven months later, Ben, Kisa, Hiro, Momichi and the rest of the Sohma gang are all eagerly, and nervously, waiting. The only two Sohmas not present in the room are Kyo and Hatori.

Ben was the only one not sitting, instead pacing back and forth across the hospital waiting room. And for what? To know if it was going to make it. Ben, Kyo, and Tohru had been living together for just over five and a half months, and they were like a family. Ben hadn't managed to find a girlfriend yet though, which made Kyo and Tohru laugh every time he brought it up.

A doctor came in the waiting room and called out, "All visitors for Tohru Honda, come this way." The whole gang, who filled up the room, stood, and followed the doctor down the hall.

"It's been hours," Momichi whispered wearily to Ben, as he walked down the long, white, sterilized hallway. "I wonder if she's okay."

"Momichi, it generally takes a while to give birth," Hiro replied, overhearing the whisper.

"How would you even know?" Haru asked critically, hitting him with his elbow. Everyone whisper-laughed at Haru's tone.

"My mom gave birth about a year ago. I would know."

"No, you shouldn't know," Shigure teased. Hiro was about to fight back when Kisa tugged his arm.

"Can we not fight, for once?" she asked him, giving him that look nobody could resist, especially Hiro. He turned to give Shigure a hate-filled glance, but he turned back to Kisa and nodded.

After many twists and turns down long, bland hallways, the doctor leading them finally stopped. She pointed toward a door. The door was slightly cracked open, and Ben was the first one to peak in. Ben had told the other to stay out, just in case Tohru didn't want them all there yet.

There was a short "hallway", and then the walls opened up to the room. Tohru was lying on the hospital bed, sitting up, chipper as ever. She was talking to Kyo, who was sitting in a chair next to her. Kyo looked up when Ben knocked on the corner of the room, and Tohru turned her head a few seconds after Kyo stopped talking. "Ben!" she said, smiling even brighter then before. He smiled and walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, staying at the side of her bed, across from the ex-cat.

"Good, thanks for asking."

"Kyo, you?" Ben asked, trying to be considerate. Kyo rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair.

"To be honest?" Kyo replied, looking Ben in the eye. Ben nodded, and Kyo continued. "I was freaking out for a while, but I think I'm okay now."

"Am I interrupting anything?" A strong, deep voice asked as he walked to the foot of Tohru's bed. Everybody shook their heads. Hatori smiled at Tohru and said, "Are you feeling okay?" She nodded, and Hatori walked over to Ben's side of the bed. He reached for her hand, and he quickly took her pulse. He put his hand on her chin and turned her face toward his. He looked into her eye for a while, and then he dropped his hand. Tohru gave him a questioning look, and Hatori explained. "I just wanted to make sure what color your eyes are." He then smirked, gave a little chuckle, and continued, "It looks just like you." Then he turned around, and he left the room, closing the door quietly when he left.

"So," Ben asked, after a few moments of silence. "Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl."

Tohru smiled, and replied, "Well, I remember them telling me, and I remember looking at it, but I don't remember what gender it was. Sorry." She giggled, and she turned to look at both of the boys. They each let out a laugh.

"If it's okay with you, I'm going to go get the rest of the 'family,'" Ben said. Tohru nodded, so Ben went out into the hallway.

"Are you sure about this?" Kyo asked. "You know the Sohma's they're pretty crazy. Don't let them overwhelm you. You don't have to let them in if you don't want to."

"I know. I want them here. I always feel better when they're here. All of them. And, yes, they can get crazy, but if I get to overwhelmed them I'll tell you. You can yell at them for me. I just need something to make me smile."

"Well, I'm here. And you'll have a little kid here to keep your happy. But if the family will make you happy, then I'll be happy too." Tohru smiled and sighed.

A reckless group of Sohma's were waiting in the hall, and when Ben poked his head out, they all quieted down and looked at him. "How's Tohru?" Kisa asked, as soon as Ben shut the door.

"I hope she's alright," Kagura thought out-loud.

"Tohru's fine. She wants you guys to come in." They all perked up and started toward the door. "Just," Ben spoke, loudly to make sure everyone heard him. "Don't scare her. Don't fight, and don't cause any problems. She's fine, but a little slow. She's tired too, so just be calm and quiet. Okay?" Everyone nodded their heads, and Ben turned and opened the door.

"I just think-" Kyo was saying as the noisy family came banging into the room.

"Tohru!" Momichi shouted when he saw her. She smiled brightly at her whole "family". They all filed through and hugged her like non-other. The greeted her with "how are you"'s and "how are you feeling"'s. She answered them all the same. The family sat and stood wherever they could, and they talked together, _without_ fighting.

Tohru's tiredness started to show through, and it was hard for her to keep her eyes open. The family tried to keep her awake, but her eyes just wouldn't stay open.

"Tohru? Do you want us to leave?" Shigure asked, shaking her awake.

"No, I don't. I want you guys here, to-" She faded off.

"Leave," Kyo demanded. Everybody turned to him, but nobody listened. They all went on with their conversations, remembering that Tohru didn't want them to leave. Kyo stood up and walked over to where Shigure was standing. Kyo stood on his toes, and spoke right into Shigure's face. "I said leave, dammit!"

"Look. Tohru didn't want us to leave, so we aren't leaving," Shigure said, pushing Kyo back down. "Your either going to accept that, fight me, or leave. I would chose for you, but then you'd be gone faster then you could think about it. So chose for yourself." Kyo looked at his cousin with hate in his eyes, and he angrily folded his arms.

"Fine. Stay for all I care."

"Way to go, Kyo, being a man. Don't let that big canine get to you," Yuki said, smile beaming. Machi giggled next to him, and he chuckled along with her.

"Dammit, you stupid rat!" Kyo yelled, throwing a punch in his direction. Yuki caught his fist easily, and threw it down.

"Kyo, do you have to be so stupid? Tohru doesn't want-"

"I don't care! I want to kill you!" Kyo yelled, throwing another punch, and, after those being blocked, a couple kicks. By now, the whole family had turned to watch the cat and mouse fight going on in the hospital room. Hatori walked into the room just as Kyo was launched, hitting the end of Tohru's hospital bed, making a loud _crunch_ sound on the wall, shaking Tohru awake.

"Now you two, what did I say about fighting!" Ben said, as Hatori hastily walked over toward Tohru's side.

"Sorry," both replied, glaring at the other. Kyo, as is suddenly being woken up from a dream, stopped the glare with Yuki and walked over to Tohru. "Tohru, I'm so sorry if I hurt you. I didn't mean to."

"Oh B.S., of course you meant to," Yuki replied, adding fuel to the fire already in Kyo's mind. Kyo glared at him, and was about to say something, when he felt a soft hand on his forearm.

"Please don't fight him. Don't fight anyone."

"Seriously, Kyo, know more fighting. Tohru's heart rate is above were is should be," Hatori said. Then, turning toward Tohru, he said, "Pleas try to calm down Tohru." She nodded and leaned back on her pillow.

"Why hasn't there been a doctor in here, it seems like it's been so long," Kyo asked, rhetorically. Everyone chuckled at the question, which made Kyo angry.

"Kyo," Hatori said in his usual calm voice, "I am a doctor."

"Oh, right," Kyo replied, slumping into the chair he had been sitting in. He'd been up for a long time and, now with his beating from Yuki, his drowsiness was just starting to set in. Hatori turned, said something to Shigure and Ayame that nobody else could here, and left the room again.

"Oh, Kyo!" Tohru said, like coming out of a haze. He turned to look at her, and she continued. "Happy Birht-

Just then, someone opened the door again. All the guests turned and saw a nurse walking in, carrying a bundle of cloth. The bundle was crying, and the nurse was doing it's best to calm it down. She looked a little surprised at all the people who has accumulated in the hospital room, but she dropped that look quickly. She walked over to Tohru, and Kyo followed.

Tohru's face light up even brighter than ever. The nurse handed over the bundle of cloth, and Tohru took it instantly. The baby stopped crying as soon as it was safe in Tohru's arms.

The whole family turned and watched as both Tohru and Kyo looked at the little child in their arms for the first time. A tear ran down Tohru's face, and a smile spread across Kyo's for the first time in a while. She looked up at him, and he looked down at her. They laughed, and Kyo kissed the top of the new mother's head.

Tohru snuggled the baby close to her face, and she kissed it.

"What are we going to name it?" Kyo asked, after the initial shock wore off.

Tohru looked at Kyo, and said, "Kazuye."


End file.
